


Airborne Kitestrings

by ImogenSmiley



Series: Reigisa [8]
Category: Free!
Genre: Anxiety, Coffee, Coffee Shop, Coming Out, Crushing, Early Mornings, GAD, GAD Rei, Gay Nagisa Hazuki, High School, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nagisa is gay and Rei is pan, Nagisa is just affectionate...right???, Pansexual Rei, Pansexual Rei Ryugazaki, Pining, Reciprocated Crushes, Rei Ryugazaki has anxiety, Walking to school, Walking to school together, Walking together, Winter, Wintertime, Writemas, coming out to friends, first year, hand holding, implied makoharu, pastries and coffee, writemas 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:33:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21704530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImogenSmiley/pseuds/ImogenSmiley
Summary: While stone faces one way, some things are more fluid, like the motions of a runaway kite before it eventually lands.
Relationships: Hazuki Nagisa/Ryuugazaki Rei, Implied Tachibana Makoto/ Nanase Haruka
Series: Reigisa [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1531475
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Airborne Kitestrings

Rei Ryugazaki was struggling to articulate himself, things had been up in the air for a while and after spending more time than he wanted to admit, looking into things, he decided it would be best to turn around and finally articulate it.

He had been bothered by nagging intrusive thoughts about people for a while. But had been unsure about the best way to articulate his issues, after all it was such a complex spectrum of preferences and fantasy. He'd never considered having a partner like his siblings did and crushes were like mythical creatures he’d never been able to imagine. He didn’t understand why or how, but it didn’t bother him so to say. How can you miss something you never had? His younger sister could gush about the boys on the track team with her until the cows came home, and his older brother was bringing different girls back to the house every other night before their parents returned from work. It was like his family could see unicorns and he couldn’t. But an imagination was enough at times.

Relationships, like unicorns had never been something to pique Rei's interest in the same way as they did his siblings. Sure women were gorgeous in their many forms and he had never objected to the idea of having a wife in the future. There were many girls he wouldn't have minded crushing on, had his mind not been fixated on something, someone else.

He hadn't considered the idea of having romantic feelings for boys before enrolling in Iwatobi High School. Since his first day, when he’d spotted that one person from across the hall, he had been on one hell of a roller-coaster ride. But, he had never once thought of how attractive both men and women could be until he saw both of the Matsuoka siblings together.

He had never once thought anything sexual toward either of them, but seeing them stood next to each other sent his mind into overload, especially out of school uniform, when they could truly express their taste in clothes. Gou, the younger of the pair was one for loud colours, cropped shirts and long flowy skirts. She tended to wear her hair up, so when she would let her waist-length ruby red hair hang loose it was like meeting a new person. Then there was the older of the two. Rin Matsuoka seemed ignorant to any idea of him being attractive, but relished in the attention he received; his style was very Western, influenced by his time studying abroad, ripped jeans, leather and acid wash. He lived in combat boots and scuffed trainers, and wore a shark tooth around his neck almost all the time, a memento from his late father. His hair was long, unruly and looked way too good when pushed back. It wasn’t fair for anyone to look that good. Jealousy tended to bubble up whenever he saw Rin, no matter the circumstances, he seemed to have everything Rei didn’t. But any attraction toward him had been dissipated by his sheer malice at the beginning. It was harder to quash attraction to other boys, ones that couldn't seem to make a bad impression.

He had been both flattered and mortified when Nagisa-kun came out as gay. Appreciated that his new friend felt it necessary to disclose the information, but horrified by how loud and open he had been. There was no subtly, and what if someone had heard and he'd been hurt. Rei would have never forgiven himself.

But now it was his turn, after spending hours on end googling the theory and the explanations about what everything meant, he came to the conclusion that the feelings he was experiencing were best summarised by the name “pansexual”. And he had to pluck up the courage to share that information with his friends.

He knew that the team wouldn’t be bothered by it, after all, Nagisa-kun had been very vocal about not being straight, and nobody batted an eye whenever his elementary school relationship with Rin was brought up. It was just a matter of bringing the words out. The person he felt was most important to talk to was definitely Nagisa-kun.

He had thought through the coming out process too much. He had considered calling a team meeting but thought he was being too melodramatic. Then again, the priority was telling Nagisa-kun, not so much telling his senpai.

He decided to do it in private, when it was just them. He opted to avoid people and thus decided to go calling at Nagisa-kun’s house before school. Usually, Nagisa-kun would meet him at the end of his street, but this was important

Rei set out early, fighting the frosty slippery streets, and walking away from the school and toward his best friend’s house. His thoughts were pounding in his head, there were many things that could go wrong, mostly the fact that he had the biggest crush on him. Not that he was going to throw all of his cards on the table. After all, he had a feeling that Nagisa-kun was interested on someone.

When he got to the Hazuki household, it was just as Nagisa was making his way out to meet with Rei.

“Morning Rei-chan! Am I late?”

“No, don’t worry! You’re not late at all, I was just ready early so decided to meet with you.”

Nagisa nodded, “Shall we head to the station, then?”

“Sure, of course.”

The pair made their way up the incline and toward the train station, stopping to gaze in foggy storefront windows. Freshly baked pastries beckoned them toward the doors.

“Oh wow, Rei-chan, don’t those look good?”

“Amazing! I haven’t had breakfast, would you like something?”

Nagisa turned to his best friend, he beamed, his eyes shining, “Yes! Let’s!”

“I’ll treat,” Rei said, holding the door to the bakery open. Nagisa ogled at the contents of the display cases, quickly deciding on an almond butter croissant with pecan and marzipan glaze. Rei opted for the same. They also ordered hot drinks, Rei going for his standard green tea and Nagisa ordering a berrycino, which took a while to brew.

While they waited for the strawberry coffee, the boys ate their pastries. They exchanged happy smiles as they indulged in the treats. When the drink was ready, the boys thanked the server and returned to the cold.

As they walked along the frosty streets, Rei swallowed the lump in his throat, “Nagisa-kun, I have something I want to say if I can/”

“Of course, Rei-chan, what’s up.”

“I figured, all things considered, you ought to be the first one to know. I, I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Basically, I, I’m not heterosexual.”

“Sorry?”

“The most apt term I found during my research was pansexual. I think that that describes me best.”

“Really?” Nagisa asked, his magenta eyes sparkling.

Rei nodded, “I understand that its perhaps slightly trivial, but I thought it best to let you know.”

Nagisa laughed, a bell-like sound escaping his lips. He clutched his side with one of his hands, his drink in the others. With a grin, he looked back up at his best friend.

Rei, to his credit, had simply stared, dumbfounded by his best friend’s amusement.

“I sort of figured for a while. But! That means we’re on four for four! Five for five if we include Rin-chan?”

“Sorry, what?”

“Yeah! Didn’t you know about Haru-chan and Mako-chan, man Rei-chan you’re dense!”

Rei snorted a laugh, “I’m glad you’re not offended or upset.”

“How could I be, Rei-chan, now come on, we don’t want to miss the train to school!”

Rei nodded, allowing his best friend to take his hand and drag him along the slippery path toward the train station. Neither boy seemed to notice the other’s blush stained cheeks as they rushed, hand in hand until they reached the ticket barriers.


End file.
